The Yellow-Bellied Scaredy Cat

by Amy Boyles

  “Same here.” Her gaze cut to me. “I’ve got to run, but I’ll touch base with you soon, Charming.”

  I smiled and waved goodbye. We watched as the mayor disappeared into the crowd. “That went well,” I said. “If Samson asks around about you, he’ll be sure to seek out the mayor first thing. Now that she’s met you, you have legitimacy, Mr. Brick.”

  Axel smiled. “Just what I’ve always wanted.”

  A few minutes later we entered the carnival. I guided Axel toward Samson’s trailer and spotted Thorne hanging out near one of the rides. He nodded toward me and I scowled.

  I thought this mission was supposed to be mine and Axel’s, but it appeared that certain people couldn’t leave well enough alone. Or they couldn’t leave me alone, that was.

  My gaze bobbed through the crowd some more, and I spotted Betty and Rose at a popcorn vendor, purchasing a bag of caramel-covered corn.

  “I thought Betty and Rose were supposed to remain at the house,” I said through gritted teeth.

  Axel spied them and frowned. “Pepper said she would keep an eye on Betty, but my guess is they snuck out.”

  I shrugged. “Well, no matter. Let’s get you to Samson.”

  We reached the trailer and I knocked. The door flew open, and Samson was spitting fire. “I thought I said, no visitors!” The words were out of his mouth before he even looked to see who had called on him. When he saw me, Samson’s cheek reddened. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Ms. Calhoun.”

  “That’s all right,” I murmured. “I know you weren’t expecting me.”

  Samson’s smile tightened as his gaze washed over Axel. “As much as I would like to meet our visitor, I’m afraid now isn’t a good time.”

  “I saw what happened, with the Strong Man,” I said quickly before Samson had a chance to shut the door in my face.

  Samson’s brows rose in question. “Oh, you did, did you? It’s a mild fever he’s suffering from. It should remedy itself here shortly.”

  I gestured to Axel. “This is Mr. John Brick. He’s a wizard, specializing in rare and strange ailments.”

  Samson eyed Axel skeptically. “Here so quickly?”

  I smiled. “I called him when I saw what happened to Giorgio.” I climbed a step and lowered my voice. “It was obvious that whatever happened was magical, so I enlisted the help of Mr. Brick to see if he could be of service.”

  Axel nodded. “I’m happy to assist, but if you don’t need my abilities, I can take them elsewhere.”

  He started to leave, and Samson reached for him. “No, no, it will be quite all right for you to take a look at Giorgio. My people have looked at him, and we haven’t been able to find anything the matter.” He smiled and a chill ran down my spine. “It couldn’t hurt to have another opinion on the matter.”

  Axel plucked at his mustache. “That’s what I always say myself—have another person take a look, especially if the diagnosis is uncertain.”

  Samson gestured for us to enter. “Come, come, get in here and see the patient.”

  I followed him into the trailer and was surprised by what I saw. To be perfectly honest, I had not considered that the inside of the place would be lush and comfortable. All the trailers I had ever seen were outfitted in plastic with harsh lighting and lots of yellow and cream-colored furnishings.

  This trailer put those others to shame. Jewel toned drapes covered the walls, giving the interior a rich feel. Jewel-toned pillows and seating made the trailer look like a great deal of money been spent on customizing the inside. I wanted to fall onto a chair and run my fingers over the velvety fabric.

  “He’s in the back,” Samson said. “Can I get you any tea or coffee?”

  Axel waved the question away. “It is best if I work on an empty stomach. You know how the world of magic is.” Samson nodded and started to follow. Axel stopped him. “This is something I must do without you.” He dropped his voice. “If Giorgio senses that you will be angry for something he reveals, then he won’t be perfectly honest with me, and I must have honesty if I’m to dig up the root of the problem.”

  Samson scratched the stubble on his chin. His eyes held hesitation, so I decided to give him a little shove in the right direction.

  “Mr. Brick has helped hundreds of people who have dealt with mysterious ailments.”

  Samson relented. He pointed to the door. “Go on, but whatever you do, don’t make him worse than he already is.”

  “I thank you,” Axel said.

  Axel knocked and I followed him inside the bedroom. Giorgio lay on the bed with the blankets pulled up to his nose. His eyes widened with fright at the sight of us.

  “We’re here to help,” I said calmly.

  “Please don’t hurt me,” he wailed.

  I shot Axel a pleading look. “You’ll have to do something about that.”

  Axel held up a finger. “Look at this,” he commanded.

  Giorgio stared at the finger. “What? Is it going to hurt me?”

  “Not at all.”

  While Giorgio stared at the finger, Axel touched his head with a finger on the opposite hand. Magic splashed over Giorgio’s face, and his jaw went slack.

  Axel then touched the door, and a sealing spell washed over it, making it so that no one on the other side could hear what was happening.

  Axel dropped his hands and pulled two chairs over for us to sit on. We sat while Giorgio stared at us, his eyes vacant and his mouth still open.

  “Now,” Axel began, “tell us what happened.”

  “The cat,” Giorgio said in a calm voice. “I was afraid it would attack me.”

  Axel shook his head. “I want to know what happened before the cat appeared and scared you. When did you first become afraid?”

  “Yesterday.”

  I shot Axel a concerned look, but he kept his gaze on Giorgio. “What happened yesterday?”

  “I became afraid of everything. I wasn’t afraid and then I was.”

  “Did something specific occur?” Axel asked.

  Giorgio quieted. His eyes moved right and left as if he was remembering or seeing a scene play out in his mind. “Arnold ruined my set yesterday.”

  “Arnold works here,” I murmured. “Yesterday he ran out in the middle of Giorgio’s performance. He lost his grip on the barbell he was holding and it slipped. Thorne rushed in and helped.”

  “I could have killed him,” Giorgio said.

  “Arnold?” I asked.

  “That’s right. But I didn’t. I found him last night, and I was going to wring his neck.” Giorgio demonstrated by flexing his muscled fingers. “But then something happened. I don’t know what he did, but that boy changed me. One minute I was strong and powerful, the next I was afraid of him—Arnold, and he was walking up to me, looking like he was going to kill me.”

  “Hmm,” I said, trying to piece it all together.

  “But Arnold didn’t hurt me. He said this was his revenge. Then I ran off, and I’ve been afraid ever since.” Giorgio became more emotional as he spoke, until tears streamed down his face and he burst into sobs.

  Axel touched his shoulder. “There, there, try to calm down.”

  Whatever magic Axel had, he used it once more on Giorgio, and it seemed to work. His sobs became muffled until they stopped coming altogether.

  “Arnold,” I whispered. “He has it; the heart, I mean.”

  Axel nodded solemnly. “So it appears. We have to find him.” His gaze slashed to the door. Behind it stood Samson Magnum. Axel tipped his head in that direction. “If we ask him about Arnold, he’ll become suspicious. We’ll have to come back later, see if we can track him down.”

  “We’ll get more people out here—like Mama and Leopold. That should be good.” I snapped my fingers. “I almost forgot—I need to talk to Kimberly.”

  Axel’s brow furrowed. “Who?”

  “A friend who did the magic show with Samson. I haven’t seen her since this afternoon.” I dismissed the rest of my speech with a wave. “It’s not a
big deal; I just want to touch base with her.”

  Axel rose. He waved his hands over Giorgio and murmured, “You will be calm, remain that way as long as you can. Now, sleep.”

  Giorgio immediately fell into a slumber full of snores. I rose and placed my chair back against the wall, where it had originally rested.

  “How long will he stay like that?” I asked.

  Axel wiggled his fingers. “A few hours at best.” He tweaked his mustache and gestured toward the door. “Shall we?”

  “We shall.”

  When we were back on the other side of the trailer, Axel patted his ribs and said, “I’m afraid I was unable to get to the root of the problem. I will have to study up on the cause of this ailment and see if there is a potion that I can concoct for him. In the meantime use your own gifts to keep Giorgio calm; that is the best advice I can suggest, at least until I return.”

  Samson grimaced. “I’ll do what I can, but it’s hard to have a carnival without a strong man.”

  “I understand,” Axel said. “Like I explained, I will do my best to come up with a remedy as quick as I can.”

  Samson walked us toward the door. “Mr. Brick, which family of Bricks did you say you were from?”

  Axel smiled warmly. “Well, I’m one of the South Carolina Bricks. There’s a bunch of us who live there. You’ll find a lot of Johns as well. John Brick is an obnoxiously common name.”

  Samson smiled but there was no warmth in his eyes. “I’m sure there are. But someone as famous as you, with your healing, you must be well-known.”

  “Well enough,” Axel confirmed.

  Samson stared at Axel, and a chill swept down my spine. I had the feeling that Samson saw right through his facade.

  “Mr. Magnum,” I chirped.

  He slowly dragged his gaze from Axel to meet mine. “Yes, Ms. Calhoun?”

  “I caught your magic show today—the one with Kimberly Peterson.”

  “Yes! Ms. Peterson is a wonderful assistant. I would love to have her full-time.”

  I laughed nervously. “You’re ready for her to run off and join the carnival? Y’all have only just met.”

  He winked. “Sometimes you just know when things are right, wouldn’t you agree?”

  An icy chill zipped down my spine as I thought about how my power had shown me that Kimberly and Samson were soul mates. I swallowed down a knot of fear that was lodged in my throat.

  “Yes,” I replied, “sometimes you do know when things are right. But I was wondering—have you seen Kimberly? I haven’t seen her since your show.”

  He shook his head. “I have not, but I’m sure she’ll turn up.”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” I murmured. “But anyway, we must be going.”

  Axel nodded to Samson. “Good day to you, sir. I will return as soon as I have a cure for your man.”

  Samson opened the trailer door. “I look forward to it.”

  When we were down the steps and far away from the trailer, I turned back. Samson stood in the doorway. He waved and that same chill overtook my body.

  “Do you think he believed our story?” I murmured to Axel.

  Axel kept his gaze pinned on the path in front of us. “Let’s hope so.”

  Samson

  Samson Magnum shut the door as soon as Charming and John Brick were out of sight. He rubbed his chin and walked back to the bedroom to check on Giorgio.

  Samson found the strong man slumbering quietly, a snore escaping his nose on each exhalation. Samson shut the door and pressed his palm to it.

  It had been smart of him to use a hearing spell on himself while Mr. Brick and Charming had been alone with Giorgio. He smiled wickedly. A simple shield spell didn’t work on Samson’s talented listening spell. Outsiders never understood the family connection that folks in a carnival experienced. If they did, they would have known that there was no way that Samson would have allowed an outsider to be alone with one of his people.

  So listening gave everyone piece of mind. It allowed Mr. Brick and Charming the privacy they needed, and gave Samson the opportunity to hear every word that was said behind the door.

  Samson whistled to himself while he opened a can of soup and dumped it into a bowl. He settled it in the microwave and set the device for one minute.

  He rested his hips on the counter and tapped his fingers along the edge as he considered everything he had learned. So Arnold had a talent that meant he could steal someone’s courage. From the way Charming and Mr. Brick talked, it sounded like Arnold had found a powerful object, one they wanted. Well, if they wanted it, that meant it must be worth quite a bit. Lucky for Samson, he liked things that held value—he liked them a lot.

  Oh, there were so many thoughts that ran through his head. His mind shifted to Kimberly and all the power in her. She had a lot of magic…a lot of it. He also thought of the vampire, Thorne. If things didn’t work out with Giorgio—and Samson had the feeling that they wouldn’t—then he would need a strong man. The vampire could be that and so, so much more.

  This thing that Arnold possessed could help him achieve all his plans, but he had to be careful. If Arnold had gotten a taste of power, then taking the object away from him might not be that easy.

  The other thing was, Samson didn’t know what the object looked like. That would make taking it very tricky, very tricky indeed.

  The microwave beeped and he tested the bowl to make sure it wasn’t too hot to touch. Satisfied that he wouldn’t burn his fingers, Samson retrieved his dinner and set it on the dining table. As he squeezed onto the padded bench that was secured to the wall of the trailer, he smiled to himself.

  Oh, he had faced bigger challenges than this. He was sure about that. Taking an object from Arnold should be as easy as stealing candy from a baby.

  The thought made him laugh. Samson threw back his head and cackled, admiring how the sound filled the trailer. Now, first things first—he had to get a plan in place, and he had to do it tonight.

  Charming

  On our walk back to the house, we encountered Betty and Rose, who were sampling deep-fried Oreo cookies.

  “This might be one of the best things I’ve ever tasted,” Betty said.

  Rose nodded. “The only thing that would make it better would be a dollop of deep-fried ice cream on top.”

  Betty’s eyes widened with glee. “Why, I think you’re right, Rose.”

  Rose saw me and leaned in conspiratorially. “How’d it go, Charming?”

  “We have news,” I said.

  Axel nodded. “We’ll share it at the house, not out here, in the open.”

  Betty finished her Oreo and stuck her corncob pipe between her teeth. “Good, let’s get out of here.”

  Rose turned away and patted her thigh. “Come here, kitty.”

  “Don’t you mean piggy, Rose?” I asked. Had my great-aunt already forgotten that her pet was a pig and not a cat?

  Rose tutted. “Charming, I’ll have you know that I can tell the difference between a cat and a pig.”

  Sometimes I wondered if that was true. But as I thought about all that, a darting object caught my attention, and the next thing I knew, something had jumped into Rose’s arms.

  A little gray cat with bright green eyes peeked out from Rose’s arms.

  “Is that the same cat that scared the strong man?” I asked.

  Rose shrugged. “I don’t know about that, because I wasn’t there, but I saw this little guy and we became instant friends.”

  “Hmm, I wonder how the cat and Pig will get along?”

  Rose pressed her nose to the cat’s, who rubbed her cheek against her. “They’ll be just fine; I know they will. Now come on, let’s get back to the house. I can’t wait to find out what y’all have discovered.”

  But the meeting between Pig and Cat, for lack of a better name, did not go well.

  Pig ran to the door when we got home, ready to greet Rose. Rose placed the kitty on the floor and the cat, at seeing Pig, arched her back, hissed and s
wiped at Pig.

  Pig squealed, which only made the cat even angrier. The cat swiped at Pig again, this time drawing blood. Pig yowled and ran, squealing, back down the hall.

  “Now, Mr. Jingles,” Rose scolded, “that wasn’t a nice way to meet your sister.”

  So I guessed the cat’s name was Mr. Jingles. Mr. Jingles seemed unconcerned with how Pig received him. As soon as the swine disappeared, the cat wound his way through Rose’s legs.

  “Well, I suppose I can’t stay mad at you forever,” she said, giving up.

  Axel shucked out of his coat as Pepper and Mama appeared. “Is Thorne here?”

  Leopold came out of the living room. “Not yet.”

  A dark shadow passed over Axel’s face. “I suggest someone call him and get him here soon. We have news to tell and plans to make.”

  “I’ll start dinner,” Mama said. “Rose, would you like to help me?”

  Rose’s expression fell. “But I just ate a deep-fried Oreo. I don’t know if I have room for dinner.”

  Mama’s face pinched in frustration. “We are Calhouns, not Neanderthals, and we serve dinner, you know that.”

  “I’ll help,” Betty said, pushing her way past me and heading down the hall. “I’ve got a bloody roast beef recipe that the vampires will love.”

  That, of all things, seemed to excite Rose. Don’t ask me why bloody roast beef appealed to her, but it obviously did.

  “Bloody roast beef, I’ll go for that,” Rose said, trailing after Betty. “Maybe we can make fried ice cream for dessert.”

  Betty poked the air with authority. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  My gaze landed on Pepper, and she laughed as she brushed dirt from Axel’s suit jacket. “Leave it to Betty to figure out a way to take a meal to the next level.”

  “I for one am glad she’s here,” Mama said. “If there’s one thing I love, it’s a full house.” She clapped her hands. “Now, dinner will be in an hour. I’ll see all of you downstairs then.” Her gaze shot to Leopold. “And be sure to get Thorne, too. We’ll need him.”

  Axel answered before Leopold could. “We most definitely will.”